Nanotubular OMS-2 Supported Single-Atom Platinum Catalysts Highly Active for Benzene Oxidation

The cryptomelane-type octahedral molecular sieve (OMS-2) exhibits excellent catalytic activity for the oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) due to its unique structure, and single-atom catalysts (SACs) have recently attracted much attention in heterogeneous catalysis. Herein, we adopted the hydrothermal redox reaction of KMnO4 and HCl aqueous solution at 120 °C for 12 h to first synthesize the nanotubular OMS-2 support and used the vitamin C and NaBH4 reduction methods to prepare the OMS-2-supported single-atom Pt and PtNP catalysts for benzene oxidation, respectively. It was found that the OMS-2-supported single-atom Pt catalyst with a Pt loading of 0.0383 wt % (0.0383Pt1/OMS-2) exhibited the best catalytic performance for benzene oxidation (a 90% benzene conversion was achieved at 189 °C and 20 000 mL g–1 h–1 (space velocity)), which was associated with its high surface oxygen vacancy density, good low-temperature reducibility, and strong benzene adsorption ability. It was also shown that benzene could be dissociated more readily over the supported single-atom Pt1 catalyst than over the supported PtNP catalyst, and the phenolates or benzoquinone as well as methyl groups, lipid, and vinyl species were the main intermediates in the oxidation of benzene over 0.0383Pt1/OMS-2. The results of this study are useful in developing the high-performance single-atom catalysts that can be applied for the oxidative removal of VOCs.